Champaign, IL-

Illinois (13-8, 3-5 B1G)

  • Illinois comes into tomorrow’s game following a six day break after their loss to Minnesota last Saturday. Illinois currently is 9-1 at home this season and 1-5 on the road.

Penn State (14-7, 2-6 B1G)

  • Penn State comes into tomorrow’s game following a win over Minnesota last Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions are currently riding a two-game winning streak.

Last time these two teams met:

January 4, 2014 in Champaign, IL- Illinois 75 Penn State 55

  • The Illini held the Nittany Lions to their lowest offensive output of the regular season with 55 points, nearly 25 points below their season average entering the game. Penn State shot just 29.8 percent (17-57), the lowest field goal percentage allowed by the Illini since Northwestern shot 25 percent on its home court in a 62-41 loss to the Illini on February 17, 2013. PSU guards Tim Frazier and D.J. Newbill entered the game as the highest scoring back court duo in the country at 36.2 points per game, but managed only a combined 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting against the Illini. Frazier had 10 and Newbill seven. Illinois jumped out to a 9-0 lead and held Penn State scoreless for the opening 6:48 of the contest. The Illini led wire-to-wire, but the Lions cut into the deficit in the second half, closing the gap to seven points. Illinois then outscored PSU 25-to-12 over the final 8:30.

Players to watch:

Illinois-

  • Sophomore Malcolm Hill- Hill came on strong at the end of his freshman season, starting Illinois’ last 12 games and averaging 6.5 points as a starter. On the heels of that success and bolstered by an offseason of hard work in the gym and the weight room, Hill is having a breakout sophomore campaign. He currently ranks second on the Illini in scoring with an average of 14.0 points. He has scored in double figures in 18 of 21 games, led by a career-high 28 points in the win over No. 11 Maryland on January 7. Hill has increased his scoring average by 9.6 points this year, the largest improvement in the Big Ten. Of the five conference players who have raised their point production the most this season, three are sophomores.
  • Senior Ryan Schmidt- Illinois has seen an unusual number of injuries to its backcourt this year. The latest player taken out of the lineup is junior Aaron Cosby, who suffered a retinal tear in his left eye against Indiana and underwent a laser procedure on Jan. 19. Coach John Groce has repeated the “Next Man Up” mantra following each injury, and has now looked to a manager to share that philosophy. Ryan Schmidt, who had been in his fourth year serving the Illinois program as an on-court manager, officially joined the roster on Jan. 23. He is practicing with the team and dressed for the most recent Illini game at Minnesota. Schmidt is a senior guard from Bloomington, Ill. who played varsity basketball at Central Catholic High School, where he was named team MVP as a senior in 2011. Schmidt is majoring in accounting.

Penn State-

  • Sophomore Geno Thorpe- Thorpe has started each of the last three games and four this season, ending the Rutgers game last Saturday with career highs in assists (5) and steals (3) to go with nine points. In the last two games, he has led the team with nine assists and six steals, while averaging 9.0 ppg. Thorpe was the top scorer off the bench with 8.4 points per game as a reserve. Thorpe has produced and then topped career highs twice this season. He leads the team and is third in the Big Ten with 87 percent free-throw shooting. He is 67-77 from the line after going 3-4 from the charity stripe vs. Minnesota. The miss was his first in Big Ten action as he has hit 18 of 19 league free throw attempts, and has converted on 27 and his last 30.
  • Junior Brandon Taylor- Taylor is second on the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game. Over the last four games he has played, Taylor is averaging 9.2 ppg in the first half alone and is shooting 53 percent from behind the arc in last three games. He produced the team’s first double-double of the season and the first of his career with 14 points and 11 rebounds in win vs. Drexel Dec. 20.